Welcome to the Neighborhood!

Teresa and I are making you a promise: “When you are here, you are family.” As we began our personal journey to a super relationship, we saw firsthand the importance of community. A community is a place where like-minded people and powerful mentors can come together to share.

As we began to interact with other couples, we started to understand that my spouse wasn’t actually crazy or if he/she was, there were thousands of other people just like him/her.

We began to realize that our issues were not unique, and that countless others had faced and/or were facing the same issues.

We also realized that many of them had proven suggestions and practical applications to help guide us through our yet, uncharted waters. That idea of community is what Family Matters First is all about.

This website is the community center. Let’s look around. Below are the tools at your disposal. Get familiar with them!

The Family Matters First Podcast

Podcasts are similar to radio programs. Their formats can be talk shows, call-in sports shows, audiobooks, news, and present just about any topic you can think of. Podcasts are different from radio in that a podcast is a series of audio or video files you can access on the internet.

You can subscribe to a podcast, just like a magazine or newspaper. In the same way a magazine arrives in your mailbox when a new edition comes out, a podcast uses software on your computer, tablet, or smart phone to automatically send you new shows whenever they become available.

Anywhere you can take your internet-connected device, you can access your favorite show. At the gym, while walking, driving to work, working around the house, in the waiting room, anywhere! You have your very own personal programming available to you.

Anytime. Anywhere. Five days a week, we discuss all things relationship-related.

Dating, finances, sex, parenting, communication, conflict, you name it. Everything that we have personally encountered in our 31 years of marriage and professionally encountered in our 20+ years of teaching and training, we talk about.

Many people have told us that they find these podcasts therapeutic and that they feel as if we are directly speaking to them. That’s because we are.

This individual webpage will record personal opinions, guest bloggers and serve as an additional resource for all things marriage and family. You will be able to comment, respond to our thoughts and share your own thoughts and opinions.

Social Media

Interact with us and other community members via Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Share comments, read comments from other community members, suggest show topics, and engage in real meaningful discussions.

Counseling/Coaching

Some issues and situation require personal and professional counseling/coaching. Counseling services are offered in the Family Matters First counseling center if you are able to travel to the Chicago area and sessions are offered via the internet (Skype), phone, and via group webinars.